In December, the Govt will decide if it will renew the glyphosate licence until 2041… • That’s 15 more years of impacts on worms, bees, soils and run-off into ponds and rivers, and glyphosate in your food. Sign Garden Organic’s petition NOW to ban this dangerous herbicide #GrowersAgainstGlyphosate.

Kinda mind blowing that it’s been 6 years since doing plant taxonomy as part of my MSc. Would have rather not done it during lock down on my own, but loved it nonetheless!

📢2 great jobs in #NatureRecovery at Butterfly Conservation, closing soon! Conservation Manager Wales, and Project Manager with PeacePlus Nature project in Northern Ireland. Challenging & exciting roles putting you at the heart of efforts to save butterflies & moths. butterfly-conservation.org/jobs 🦋

UKBMS volunteers have walked a total of >1.5 million kilometres since 1976 at more than 7,600 sites to produce this incredible dataset. That’s the equivalent of walking 40 times around the world – or to the moon and back twice. Latest annual results: www.ukbms.org 3/3

Sad but unsurprising results. Also amazing to see the community dedication for so many records! My research in #urban #butterflies found a few specialists in MK, making urban nature even more important future conservation and reducing biodiversity loss.

Best time of year!! #Spring

WEEK ONE! The UKBMS surveys officially kick off today 🎺 🥳 🦋 If you're taking part, check the weather and choose a good day for your survey this week - temps above 13degrees, sun and light winds are best. Weeks run from each Wednesday to the following Tuesday this year. Good luck!

New PhD position: Butterfly Evolution at High Elevations 🦋⛰️🧬 The project aims to understand the rapid evolution and adaptation of Andean white butterflies using genomics. DEADLINE: May 8, 2026 Start: Autumn 2026 (Czechia) More info: pavelmatos.wordpress.com/join-us/

If, for whatever reason you wish to put yourself through it, my thesis is now online! #butterfly #ecology #conservation #PhDone oro.open.ac.uk/109027/

One of the excluded systematic reviews is the York systematic reviews commissioned as part of the Cass Review itself. NHS England excluded from its evidence review a systematic review produced for the very process this evidence review is supposed to implement. It's a joke.

Are you an relatively new to field ecology and data collection? Or are are you supervising students? Our guide for effective field data collection is now published in @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social! We also include a printable poster with a visual overview of the guide doi.org/10.1111/2041...

I’ll be doing my talk at @niscifest.bsky.social at 4pm today. A few of my colleagues are here too, with the first speaker starting in 15 mins! Come along if you’re interested. #NISF #NorthernIreland #Ecologi

Come to Hamburg and do a PhD on insect/spider traits with me!

In a few weeks I’ll be talking about #biodiversity loss, ecological restoration and urban #butterflies including the restoration work we are doing at the @openlivinglabs.bsky.social at the Northern Ireland science festival in Belfast! #NISF. It’s free! nisciencefestival.com/event/how-to...

LAST CALL 🐞 The #ForestInvertebrates SIG brings together research on trees, invertebrates & urban ecosystems. 📅 5 March 📍 Hyde Park Learning Centre 🌱 Optional field visit on 4 March Submit your research abstracts by 5pm today (30 Jan) for a chance to join the programme 🔽

Utterly ridiculous. Segregated ponds is a new low. Glad this was stopped.

I can’t stop buying #tarantulas any time I want… #Vitaliuschromatus. She must have been pretty thirsty!

From soil to canopy, urban trees support rich invertebrate life 🌿 Join our #ForestInvertebrates SIG on 5 March 2026 for interdisciplinary talks, research case studies & discussion. 📝 Abstracts welcome – Deadline 30 January 🚶 Optional field visit: 4 March 👉

Buying one new tarantula after a decade really opened the flood gates… unbelievably addictive hobby. Welcome slings of #Birupes simoroxigorum and #Dolichothele rufoniger #tarantula #spider #bugsky. Will stop buying them soon/probably/eventually…

Nice to be starting 2026 with our new paper with @sei.org on making #CitizenScience biological recording more inclusive @savebutterflies.bsky.social doi.org/10.5334/cstp...

Creeping over the edge waiting for the cricket… I love this #spider, it’s so colourful and active #tarantula #Chromatopelmacyaneopubescens

Well colour me suprised, turns out no one cares except massive bigots. Who knew. 👇🏻

Had an amazing new years visiting friends in Dorset and playing with a drone out at the New Forest!

Prepping the December catch for genetic #sequencing. Most of this plate is the bug Trioza urticae, which are found in nettles and we have absolutely loads at the living labs! Interesting to see their numbers grow over the past few weeks— maybe this is the peak? #nature #entomology #genomics #BIOSCAN

This was such an excellent listen. As someone from a #workingclass background I really related to this!

Excited to launch the new improved Reproducible Code guide from @britishecologicalsociety.org @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social FREE online here! www.britishecologicalsociety.org//wp-content/... Amazing work by some very talented ECRs. We hope it’s useful!

New baby Grammistola pulcripies! This is an extremely addictive hobby… #Tarantula #Bugsky

After a years of deciding on a second tarantula I finally landed on one I’ve had my eye on for years. Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens. I love them. Hungry all the time and dashed so fast it scared the life out of me. Good fun! #BugSky

This gets published but my manuscript has been with the editor for 2 months 😢

Anyone considering doing a #PhD with us at the OU in life science or #environment ILESLA is a fantastic opportunity to take part in a world class PhD training programme, find out more this Wednesday

Watson was deeply influential to me as a genomicist, but not how you may assume From stealing Rosalind Franklin's lab notes to his frequent sexist & racist bioessentialist comments later in life, he showed how the scientific community would still worship a terrible person Don't idolize bad people

🤔 ‘One day it struck me that the world would be a very different place if environmental crimes were treated in the same way as murders. So, why aren’t they? And should they be?’ #ecocidelaw #greencrime www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

The Government has tabled 67 last-minute amendments to the Planning & Infrastructure Bill.‼️ Rushed through with little scrutiny, it’s a shambolic way to reform the planning system. It creates confusion, sidelines science and leaves nature dangerously exposed. (1/3)

We're excited to welcome our Oct #OUGradSch25 PhD cohort to campus today! We can’t wait to hear about their research journeys. On Fri, we’ll also welcome Professional Doctorate students. Also welcome to the first PhD by Distance Learning cohort! @oulibrary.bsky.social @openuniversity.bsky.social

PhD researcher Elaine Hooton is shining a spotlight on geodiversity and calling for a shift in how we talk about the non-living foundations of our planet. Elaine shared this inspiring photo of geodiversity in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Read more 👉 research.open.ac.uk/news/giving-...

My governing body, the British Psychological Society (@bpsofficial.bsky.social) is also highly critical of the EHRC Code of Practice. Thank you, BPS, for making this public statement. www.bps.org.uk/psychologist...

📣 New research, including @savebutterflies.bsky.social #citizenscience data, shows winners & losers across >1200 insect species in Britain since 1990. Urbanisation identified as major driver of decline for moths, ladybirds & hoverflies www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🌍 🦋🐞🦗🪲🐝

Not enough people know about Hotwheels Sysiphus #spider en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotwhee...

New PhD position: Butterfly Conservation Genomics 🦋 The project focuses on threatened butterflies in Czech dry grasslands and steppes. Deadline: September 12, 2025 More info: pavelmatos.wordpress.com/join-us/

Beautiful Marbled (Eublemma purpurina) and what a stunning little moth. The stand out moth in the moth trap last night in North East Essex. @moths.uk #teammoths @bc-cambs-essex.bsky.social #savebutterflies #irecord

A meta-analysis found that high-density managed honeybee populations can: 👉disrupt local biodiversity🌏 👉reduce pollinator richness🧪 👉alter plant-pollinator relationships🐝 ...all with minimal benefits to crop yields! Calls for evidence-based hive density guidelines 📑 🔗 doi.org/10.1111/1365...

Perils of relying on AI in #research: just had an algorithm tell me that it has heard a Great #Bittern in the courtyard of the OU campus with 92% confidence. I can see why it’s made that assumption cos the car it’s picked up going over a speed bump does sound a little bit like booming!

I did a #BigButterflyCount earlier and almost all the butterflies vanished but just now this happened! I’m guessing one female and a lot of males? Never seen so many together in the garden. @savebutterflies.bsky.social

Are butterflies doing better this year? Yes! ✅ Is that a good thing for nature? Yes! ✅ Do I put a downer on some positive butterfly news? Yes! ✅ (sorry) theconversation.com/why-the-uks-... #butterflies #nature #bugsky 🌍

It’s rained pretty much constantly since I wrote this. Good news!

Tomorrow is the day! 🦋🎉 It’s the start of the Big Butterfly Count. Between the 18 July - 10 August, spend 15 minutes recording the butterflies that you see. 1️⃣ Download the Big Butterfly Count App 2️⃣ Register 3️⃣ Get Recording #savebutterflies #bigbutterflycount

Are butterflies doing better this year? Yes! ✅ Is that a good thing for nature? Yes! ✅ Do I put a downer on some positive butterfly news? Yes! ✅ (sorry) theconversation.com/why-the-uks-... #butterflies #nature #bugsky 🌍

No more Beewashing please! Why beekeeping doesn't help conserve bees. Pls RT if you agree. youtu.be/fiBYBmlKSYU

It’s a privilege to look outside my office window and see so many #butterflies! #bugsky 🌍